LONDON

[Ballooning and Victorian Music Hall.] Anonymous Manuscript of the lyrics of two comic songs: 'Balooning [sic]' (inspired by a piece in Charles Dickens's 'Household Words') and Harry Sydney's 'It's just as well to take it in a quiet sort of way'.

Author: 
[Ballooning and Victorian Music Hall; Harry Sydney, music hall artiste and songwriter; Charles Dickens and 'Household Words']
Publication details: 
Without place or date. [London? Circa 1865.]
£400.00

3pp., foolscap 8vo. On a bifolium of laid paper. In fair condition, aged and worn. The first poem, 'Balooning [sic]', covers both sides of the first leaf. No evidence has been discovered that this poem was ever published, but it is inspired by the exploits of 'Mr. Green' in a humorous essay titled 'Ballooning', which appeared in Charles Dickens's 'Household Words' on 25 October 1851. The choice of two phrases ('pipes & backy' and 'Mounted Meershaums') is given in the present manuscript, these variants perhaps suggesting that this item is authorial rather than a transcription.

[George Cruikshank, celebrated caricaturist, on Sir Charles Wheatstone and the 'Submarine Telegraph'.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Geoe Cruikshank') to C. Le Motte, describing Wheatstone's attempts to 'lay a wire across the Thames' and in Swansea.

Author: 
George Cruikshank (1792-1878), celebrated caricaturist, friend and illustrator of Charles Dickens [Sir Charles Wheatstone (1802-1875), inventor, pioneer of the submarine telegraph]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of 263 Hampstead Road, N.W. [London] 17 October 1866.
£220.00

2pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. With Cruikshank's splendid sprawling signature. Addressed to 'C. Le Motte Esq' and beginning: 'Sir, | Professor Wheatstone did not lay the wire across the Thames as he proposed to do, on account of the “Trawling” in that River and also finding some trouble in obtaining permission from the Lord Mayor – as “Conservator of the Thames” - In 1840 he had all the plans and apparatus ready – and in 1844 he in company with the Member for Swansea [i.e.

[Constantin François, Comte de Volney.] Autograph Letter Signed ('C Volney'), in English, to the publisher Sir Richard Phillips, discussing plans for a new London edition of his 'Ruins of Empires', previously translated by Thomas Jefferson.

Author: 
Comte de Volney [Constantin François de Chassebœuf, Comte de Volney] (1757-1820), radical French politician [Sir Richard Phillips (1767-1840), author and publisher; Thomas Jefferson; Joel Barlow]
Publication details: 
Paris. 3 August 1818.
£1,200.00

Volney's 'Ruines' (1791) was extremely influential, particularly in the United States. In 1796 Volney met Thomas Jefferson at Monticello to discuss Jefferson's plan to translate the book into English. Jefferson had completed the greater part of his translation by the time he mounted his 1800 bid for the presidency, at which point he handed over the project to Joel Barlow, who translated the last four chapters and, at Jefferson's request, put his name to the whole translation, which was published in 1801.

[Constantin François, Comte de Volney.] Autograph Note in the third person, 'au Ministre du tresor public', presenting a copy of his 'Tableau du Climat et du Sol des Etats-Unis'.

Author: 
Comte de Volney [Constantin François de Chassebœuf, Comte de Volney] (1757-1820), radical French politician and friend of Thomas Jefferson
Publication details: 
Without place or date. [Replied to on 25 October 1803.]
£750.00

1p., 4to. In good condition, lightly aged. On bifolium with stub from mount adhering to blank second leaf. Neatly written and reading: 'Le Senateur Volney a l'honneur d'offrir au Ministre du tresor public, comme a l'un des juges les plus competens et les plus Eclairés l'examplaire ci-joint de Son Nouveau livre Tableau du climat et du Sol des Etats-unis D'Amerique | et leprie d'agreer des tres humbles civilités.' At the head of the page the recipient has written: 'Rep. 2o Br[umair]e. 12. [i.e.

['Wee Georgie Wood', i.e. George Wood, music hall performer.] Autograph Letter Signed ('George.') to 'C. B.' [impressario C. B. Cochran?], regarding two photographs and a 'cutting from the NY Daily Mirror'.

Author: 
'Wee Georgie Wood', i.e. George Wood (1894-1979), popular English music hall performer
Publication details: 
On letterhead of the Savage Club, 1 Carlton House Terrace, London, SW1. 25 September 1947.
£60.00

1p., 12mo. In fair condition, lightly aged, with slight rust staining at head from paperclip. Reads: 'Dear C. B/ | Choice of two photographs with pleasure that you so flatter me as to want one. | Thought the enclosed cuttings from the NY Daily Mirror would interest you. Dont trouble to retain them. | Yours | George.' Wood was a screen and stage actor and comedian. A dwarf, he usually performed as a child. He wrote a weekly column in The Stage, and was a stalwart of the Savage Club. He is mentioned by John Lennon in the Beatles song 'Dig It'.

Musical Bouquet Edition. One Hundred Songs of Ireland: Words and Music.

Author: 
Songs of Ireland [Musical Bouquet Edition, London; Richard Born, London printer]
Publication details: 
London: Musical Bouquet Office, 192, High Holborn. 1857. [Printed by Richard Born, Crawley Street, Euston Square.]
£220.00

60pp., 8vo. In green printed wraps, the front cover carrying a dense illustration of scenes from various songs ('Kitty of Coleraine', 'Angel's Whisper', 'The Irish Wedding', 'Donnybrooke Fair', 'Low-Back'd Car' and 'The Wake'), with Tom Moore at the head, printed by Richard Born from a drawing by W. E. Earl. Title on cover differs slightly: '100 Songs of Ireland | Music & Words | The Popular Edition'. Eight-page publishers' catalogue bound in at rear. In fair condition, on aged paper, in aged and worn wraps.

[John Cartier, English baritone.] Three Autograph Letters Signed to 'David', describing the 'hard-going' of his touring existence, and enclosing photographs for his 'enormous collection'.

Author: 
John Cartier (c.1923-1997), English baritone, singer of Gilbert and Sullivan with the D'Oyly Carte
Publication details: 
All from 10 Rutherford House, Brady Street, London E1. 15 January 1974, and 5 March and 21 May 1975.
£60.00

First two letters 1p., 4to; third letter 2pp., 4to. All three signed 'John Cartier'. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. In the last letter he states that he has received the 'envelopes', and has 'distributed them round to various singers and musicians who will eventually, I am sure, be sending you a photograph with best wishes'. He apologises for being unable to invite him to visit: 'You see, this is a very tiny flat and, in fact, I am very seldom here for any length of time as my work means continual journeying from place to place for concerts and shows.

[James Bertrand Payne, fraudster who brought down the London publishing house Edward Moxon & Co.] Four Autograph Letters Signed to H. Cholmondeley-Pennell, one explaining his retirement from the firm, and two about Pennell's book 'Crescent'.

Author: 
James Bertrand Payne (1833-1898), editor, author and fraudster [Henry Cholmondeley-Pennell (1837-1915), poet and writer on angling]
Publication details: 
The first two on letterhead 44 Dover Street, Piccadilly, London, W. [i.e. the premises of Edward Moxon & Co.], 17 and 26 October 1868. The third from The Grange, Brompton, 22 February 1869. The fourth with no place, 23 May 1869.
£200.00

The four letters are in good condition, with light signs of age and wear. Written in Payne's neat and mannered hand, and all four signed 'J Bertrand Payne'. For the background to the correspondence see Jim Cheshire's article 'The Fall of the House of Moxon', Victorian Poetry, Spring 2012. Payne was manager of the London publishing house Edward Moxon & Co., celebrated for their association with poets.

[Richard Bentley, London publisher.] Autograph Letter Signed to Leicester Buckingham, regarding his 'Life of Mary Queen of Scots'.

Author: 
Richard Bentley (1794-1871), London publisher for whom Charles Dickens edited 'Bentley's Miscellany' [Leicester Silk Buckingham (1825-1867), dramatist and author]
Publication details: 
New Burlington Street [London]. 11 May 1855.
£80.00

2pp., 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Addressed to 'Leicester Buckingham Esq'. Bentley writes that the matter of Buckingham's life of Mary Queen of Scots is 'just now brought to [his] attention'. 'If you are passing this way any day between 12 and 2 o'C you will be sure to find me, or my son, who will be able to discuss the subject with you'. He finds that he 'paid to Mr Wageman for a copy of the Miniature of the Queen executed for yuou at your desire, £3 . 3. 0', and asks to be sent this.

[James Sant, RA, portrait painter.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Jas: Sant') to 'Miss Nolan', requesting to see the daughter of 'Mrs Horsfall', whom he has arranged to paint.

Author: 
James Sant (1820-1916), RA, portrait painter noted for his images of women and children, and studies of childhood
Publication details: 
On letterhead of 43 Lancaster Gate, Hyde Park, W. [London] 10 May [no year].
£50.00

1p., 12mo. In fair condition, lightly aged. Presumably written to the governess of a child he had arranged to paint. Reads: 'Madam | I have Mrs. Horsfall's permission to ask if you could make it convenient that I should see her little daughter tomorrow at ¼ past 2 oC – for the purposes of arranging sittings for her portrait.'

[Horace Sequeira, actor, portrait painter and make-up artist.] Four items: Autograph Duologue titled 'Seeing the Coronation'; duplicated duologue titled 'A Quiet Day's Sketching in Sussex'; and two price lists.

Author: 
Horace Sequeira (1887-1973), actor, make-up artist, portrait painter [Old Vic and Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London]
Publication details: 
All four undated (one circa 1953 and the others earlier). One item from 5 Belsize Crescent, Hampstead, NW3 [London], and two others from 17 Welbeck Mansions, Inglewood Rd, NW6.
£250.00

Sequeira was born in Aldgate. In the years following his service in the London Regiment during the First World War, he acted in Shakespeare at the Old Vic, and he would continue as an actor into the age of film and television. In addition to acting Sequeira taught (including a youthful Peter Cushing) at Guildhall School of Music and Drama, painted, and in 1953 published a book on stage make-up. The present four items, all undated, are in good condition, lightly aged. ONE: Autograph duologue titled 'Seeing the Coronation'. 5pp., foolscap 8vo. With revised conclusion, 1p., 12mo.

[Emilia Francis, Lady Dilke, and her adulterous husband Sir Charles Wentworth Dilke.] Autograph Signatures ('Charles W. Dilke' and 'Emilia F. S. Dilke'), made together for an autograph hunter after the Crawford Scandal.

Author: 
Emilia Francis, Lady Dilke [née Strong] (1840-1904), English author, art historian, feminist and trade unionist; her second husband Sir Charles Wentworth Dilke (1843-1911), Radical Liberal politician
Publication details: 
Dated by Lady Dilke 'Newham | 10 June | 1891'.
£120.00

1p., 12mo. In fair condition, lightly aged. Reads: 'Charles W. Dilke. | Emilia F. S. Dilke | Newnham | 10 June | 1891'. Written after the celebrated Crawford Scandal of 1886, which resulted in Dilke losing his seat in parliament, and becoming a music-hall figure of fun as a result of the revelations of his adulterous behaviour.

[William Gorman Wills, Irish dramatist, novelist and painter.] Autograph Letter Signed ('W G Wills') to 'Chepmell' [i.e. the society homeopathist Edward Charles Chepmell], expressing thanks for 'the cure you accomplished'.

Author: 
W. G. Wills [William Gorman Wills], Irish dramatist, novelist and painter [Edward Charles Chepmell (1820-1885), society homeopathist]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of the Garrick Club [London]. No date.
£56.00

1p., 12mo. In fair condition. He has 'from week to week been purposing a visit to you to express my gratitude & sincere thanks for your kindness to me & the cure you accomplished'. He can only write his thanks, having been overwhelmed by 'the arrears of work that followed my illness', and leaving for Paris the following day.

[Lady Margaret Sackville, poet and lover of Ramsay MacDonald.] 'The Double House and other poems'.

Author: 
Margaret Sackville [Lady Margaret Sackville (1881-1963), poet and children's author, first President of the Poetry Society, lover of Labour prime minister Ramsay MacDonald]
Publication details: 
1935. Williams & Norgate Ltd, London. [The Whitefriars Press Ltd, London and Tonbridge.]
£80.00

32pp., 12mo. In blue-green card wraps with light blue-green printed label on front cover. In very good condition. Twenty-four poems in the Georgian idiom, some of which had previously appeared in Country Life, Chamber's Journal, Observer, Harper's Bazaar abd the Glasgow Herald.. Now uncommon. Six copies on COPAC.

[Lady Margaret Sackville, poet and lover of Ramsay MacDonald; book] Presentation inscription on copy of her 'The Double House and other poems'.

Author: 
Margaret Sackville [Lady Margaret Sackville (1881-1963), poet and children's author, first President of the Poetry Society, lover of Labour prime minister Ramsay MacDonald]
Publication details: 
1935. Williams & Norgate Ltd, London. [The Whitefriars Press Ltd, London and Tonbridge.]
£180.00

32pp., 12mo. In blue-green card wraps with light blue-green printed label on front cover. In good condition, lightly aged. Florid ownership inscription in thick black ink at front: 'Margaret (Sackville) | to | Henrietta | with love | 1936.' A question mark has been deleted in one poem, presumably by Sackville. Twenty-four poems in the Georgian idiom, some of which had previously appeared in Country Life, Chamber's Journal, Observer, Harper's Bazaar abd the Glasgow Herald. Now uncommon. Six copies on COPAC.

[Lady Margaret Sackville, poet and lover of Ramsay MacDonald; book] Tree Music.

Author: 
Margaret Sackville [Lady Margaret Sackville (1881-1963), poet and children's author, first President of the Poetry Society, lover of Labour prime minister Ramsay MacDonald]
Publication details: 
1947. Williams & Norgate Ltd, Great Russell Street, London. [The Whitefriars Press Ltd, London and Tonbridge.]
£120.00

28pp., 12mo. In printed blue-green card wraps. Shaken and aged, in worn wraps. Eleven poems in the Georgian idiom, eight of which, according to a note by the author, had previously been published by 'Messrs. Lewis' in 'The Lyrical Woodland'. From Sackville's own papers, and including some pencil markings, presumably by her, including the emendation of 'blank' for 'dank' and 'the' for 'that'. Now uncommon. Six copies on COPAC.

[Rosa Hollay, Helena Rubinstein's London manager, successor of Suzanne Verdi, 'Beauty Specialist', Old Bond Street, London.] Typed Letter Signed ('Rosa Hollay | Suzanne Verdi') to journaist 'Miss Coury', with Autograph Postscript,

Author: 
Rosa Hollay [née Bird] (c.1886-1979), London manager of Helena Rubinstein from 1914 [ Suzanne Verdi, 'Beauty Specialist', Old Bond Street, London]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of 44 Old Bond Street, W.1. [London] 30 September 1931.
£50.00

The Sunday Times, 20 March 2002, carries an article by Ann Treneman, 'The real face of Rubinstein', discussing the discovery among Hollay's papers of her correspondence with Helena Rubinstein. The correspondence was made use of by Lindy Woodhead in her 2017 book 'War Paint: Elizabeth Arden and Helena Rubinstein: Their Lives, their Times, Their Rivalry'. Hollay was Rubinstein's London manager from 1914.

[E. V. Lucas writes to E. H. Shepard regarding the illustrating of a poem for 'Punch'.] Typed Letter Signed ('E. V.') to 'Ernest', regarding the illustrating of a poem ('Monmouthshire'?) for 'Punch'.

Author: 
E. V. Lucas [Edward Verrall Lucas] (1868-1938), author and Chairman of Methuen & Co, London publishers [E. H. Shepard [Ernest Howard Shepard] (1879-1976), artist and illustrator; Punch magazine]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of Methuen & Co, Publishers, London. 17 May 1928.
£100.00

1p., 4to. In good condition, lightly aged. Addressed in type to 'My dear Shepard,' but with the last word corrected in autograph to 'Ernest'. He has now 'made sufficient progress with Monmouthshire' to be able to give Shephard 'a line': 'The first two verses bear upon the Wye valley and the Usk valley, of which Tintern is the best symbol.

[Sidney Dark, journalist and author.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Sidney Dark') to Collin Brooks, editor of 'Truth', regarding an article he was asked to write at a 'very alcoholic Savage lunch'. With copy of Brooks's waggish response.

Author: 
Sidney Dark [Sidney Ernest Dark] (1874-1947), journalist, critic and voluminous author, editor of the Church Times [Collin Brooks (1893-1959), Fleet Street editor]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of Lane End Cottage, Sonning, Berkshire. 4 May [1947].
£35.00

ONE: ALS from Dark to Brooks. The handwriting is quite atrocious, and the present transcription is at points tentative. Dark begins by recalling that at 'the delightful & very alcoholic Savage lunch' (i.e. lunch at the Savage Club), Brooks 'suggested that I should write an article for Truth. Perhaps because of the super-abundant alcoholic I have clean forgotten what the article was to he about. If you haven't & still want it, I might be able to write it.' The penultimate sentence is, to this cataloguer at least, indecipherable, apart from the words 'of course in a public sense'.

[Punch history; C. L. Graves and Punch editor E. V. Knox.] Autograph Letter Signed from 'C L. G.' to 'Evoe', discussing in detail questions relating to his planned history of Punch, with long autograph 'Notes on your Memorandum'.

Author: 
C. L. Graves [Charles Larcom Graves (1856-1944), assistant-editor of Punch and the Spectator, uncle of poet Robert Graves [E. V. Knox [Edmund George Valpy Knox] (1881-1971, 'Evoe'), editor of Punch]
Publication details: 
Letter on letterhead of Kent Lodge, Westgate-on-Sea, Thanet. 30 May 1938. Memorandum undated.
£750.00

For information on Graves see his generous obituary in The Times, 18 April 1944. Both items in fair condition, lightly aged and worn, with minor staining from paperclip to first leaf of letter. The work was not published, and although Graves states in Item One that the greater part of the text is 'in the hands of my typist', there is no record of its survival, or of the thousand related documents he states were sent to him by M. H. Spielmann. ONE: ALS from 'C L. G.' to 'Dear Evoe'. 4pp., landscape 8vo.

[Sir Allen Young, Arctic explorer.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Allen Young') to society homeopathist Dr Chepmell, conveying a message regarding an appointment.

Author: 
Sir Allen Young [Sir Allen William Young] (1827-1915), English master mariner and Arctic explorer who searched for Sir John Franklin [Edward Charles Chepmell (1820-1885); Lillie Langtry (1853-1929)
Publication details: 
On letterhead of the Turf Club, Piccadilly [London]. 'Wednesday Evg' [no date].
£180.00

In addition to his achievements, Young is remembered for holding a dinner party in 1877, at which the Prince of Wales arranged to sit next to Lillie Langtry while her husband was discreetly seated elsewhere, thus beginning their affair. 2pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged and ruckled, with two small pinholes at head of first leaf, and traced of mount on blank reverse of second leaf. The letter begins: 'I have just got note from Mrs Langtry saying that she will have to go out of Town tomorrow morning and asking me to write to you to tell you'.

[George du Maurier, Punch artist and cartoonist.] Autograph Signature ('Yours faithfully | George du Maurier') in response to a request for an autograph.

Author: 
George du Maurier [George Louis Palmella Busson du Maurie] (1834-1896), Punch cartoonist and novelist
Publication details: 
Without date or place.
£23.00

On 5 x 10 cm slip of paper. In good condition, lightly aged. Reads: 'Yours faithfully | George du Maurier'. The first line lightly inked, the signature itself bold and strong. Nothing else on the card, except for the number '92' in a contemporary hand at top left above the signature.

[Admiral Beatty, Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Fleet, thanks the U.S. Sixth Battle Squadron for their help in 'bringing about the greatest naval victory in history'.] Pamphlet: '“Comrades of the Mist” | Admiral Beatty's Message to U.S. Squadron'.

Author: 
[Earl Beatty [Admiral of the Fleet David Richard Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty] (1871-1936), distinguished Royal Navy officer]
Publication details: 
'Reprinted from “The Times,” London, Wednesday, 18 December 1918.' London: Chiswick Press. [1918]
£220.00

An attractive Chiswick Press item (on the firm's own paper), possibly printed for Beatty himself. No other copy traced, either on OCLC WorldCat or on COPAC. 3pp., 12mo. Printer's slug at foot of otherwise-blank reverse of second leaf. On laid paper with 'Chiswick Press' watermark. Aged and worn, with pin-hole through top inner corner of both leaves, and light staining at foot of first page. Reprinting a speech thanking the US Atlantic Fleet 'again, again, and again for the great part the Sixth Battle Squadron has played in bringing about the greatest naval victory in history'.

[ Littleton Powys, second-eldest of the Powys family, Sherborne schoolmaster and naturalist.] Four Autograph Letters Signed (all 'Littleton') to the journalist Collin Brooks ('Collin'), mainly regarding his late wife the novelist Elizabeth Myers.

Author: 
Littleton Powys [Littleton Charles Powys] (1874-1955) of the Powys Family, teacher (Sherborne) and naturalist [his wife the novelist Elizabeth Myers (1903-1947); Collin Brooks (1893-1959), journalist]
Publication details: 
All four letters from The Quarry House, The Avenue, Sherborne, Dorset. (The first on a letterhead of the address.) 5 May, 20 August and 10 September 1948; and 28 April 1949.
£420.00

Four good letters, in which the author's love for his wife and grief at her death are apparent. Littleton Powys was the second-eldest of eleven, his siblings including writers John Cowper Powys, T. F. Powys and Llewelyn Powys, architect A. R. Powys, artist Gertrude Powys, lacemaker Marian Powys, and poet and novelist Philippa Powys. His autobiography 'The Joy of it' was published in 1937, with the sequel 'Still the Joy of it' appearing in 1956. The four letters are in good condition, lightly aged. They total 12pp., 12mo.

[Val Guest, film director associated with Hammer horror.] Signed Autograph Score of his song '”Swell” | Lyrics and music by | Val Guest'.

Author: 
Val Guest [Valmond Maurice Guest] (1911-2006), Hammer horror film director and screenwriter
Publication details: 
No date or place. [London, 1940s?]
£220.00

In the 1940s Guest wrote the lyrics to several songs by the American composer Manning Sherwin (1902-1974), several of them for his comedy 'I'll be your Sweetheart' (1945), but he is not known to have written any music himself. No record has been found of the present item, but it presumably dates from the same period. It is 4pp., 4to. On bifolium of printed music paper. In good condition, lightly aged and worn, with central vertical fold. The title is on the cover: '”Swell” | Lyrics and music by | Val Guest'. There is an illegible name lightly written at top right in another hand.

[Sir Shane Leslie, diplomat, author and Winston Churchill's cousin.] Four Autograph Letters Signed (all 'Shane Leslie'), three to the journalist Collin Brooks and the other a letter of condolence to Brooks's widow. With TLS from Brooks to Leslie.

Author: 
Sir Shane Leslie [Sir John Randolph Leslie] (1885-1971), Irish diplomat, author and first cousin of Sir Winston Churchill [Collin Brooks (1893-1959), Fleet Street journalist]
Publication details: 
Three from London addresses: The Shamrock Club, 28 Hertford Street; 38 Knightsbridge Court, Sloane Street; letterhead of 5 Morpeth Mansions. One from Glaslough, County Monaghan, Eire [Ireland]. 1945 (2), 1948, 1959.
£220.00

The four letters are in good condition, lightly aged and worn. Each 1p., 12mo. The first three letters are written to Brooks, as editor of 'Truth'; the fourth is a letter of condolence to Brooks's wife. In the first letter (14 April 1945) he apologises for the delay in sending in a review: 'I have been two months out of the country and nothing could be forwarded.' He adds: 'I wish I saw more of Charles Webster.

[Francis Ralph Gray, first High Mistress of St Paul's School.] Autograph Signature ('Frances R. Gray' to an eight-line transcription 'From the St Paul's Girls' School Song', inscribed to Margery Clerk.

Author: 
Frances Ralph Gray (c. 1863-1935), first High Mistress of St Paul's School, 1902 to 1927
Publication details: 
5 April 1927. In envelope with printed address of St. Paul's Girls' School, Brook Green, Hammersmith, S.W. [London]
£100.00

An attractive item, neatly written out by Gray on 1p., 4to. In good condition, with central horizontal fold. Headed 'From the St. Paul's Girls' School Song'. The eight transcribed lines begin: 'In Faith and Knowledge! May it prove | When here our work is done, | […]' Beneath the quotation Gray has written: 'With my love to Margery | Frances R. Gray | 3rd. April 1927'. In envelope with the address of the school printed at top left of cover, addressed at centre by Gray to 'Margery Clerk'.

[George Augustus Sala: 1881 Christmas Day menu by 'Sala & Co | Refreshment Contractors'.] Hand-written menu on decorative card.

Author: 
George Augustus Sala (1828-1895), journalist, author and bon viveur, associated with the Illustrated London News (as G. A. S.) and the Daily Telegraph, founder of the Savage Club,
Publication details: 
'Sala & Co | Refreshment Contractors | 46 Mecklenburgh Sq. | W.C.' 1881.
£100.00

An attractive item, neatly written out in black ink on one side of a 13 x 8.5 cm piece of shiny card, with printed decorative border of flowers in gold and blue. In good condition, lightly aged and worn, with traces of mount adhering to reverse. As a joke, at the foot, in block capitals, the menu is attributed to 'Sala & Co | Refreshment Contractors', at Sala's address. An interesting artefact of the Victorian Christmas. The menu reads:'[fleuron] Menu. | CHRISTMAS DAY | 1881 | oysters on the half shell.

[Sir Henry Irving, illustrious Victorian actor-manager.] Autograph Signature ('Henry Irving:') on printed circular invitation to act as stewerd at the Annual Dinner of The Actors' Benevolent Fund, made out by Irving to the novelist Hall Caine.

Author: 
Sir Henry Irving [John Henry Brodribb] (1838-1905), illustrious Victorian actor-manager [Hall Caine, novelist]; Artists' Benevolent Fund
Publication details: 
Lyceum Theatre [London], 29 April 1891.
£70.00

1p., 4to. On bifolium. Aged and worn, with small spots at head and foot. Irving's signature is firm and bold. The only other words in his autograph are 'Dear Hall Caine', but there is slight offsetting of other writing by Irving on the blank second leaf. The circular is an invitation to be 'placed on the list of Stewards on the occasion of the Annual Dinner of "The Actors' Benevolent Fund," of which I am the President'. Irving will be in the chair, and the dinner will take place at the Whitehall Rooms, Hotel Metropole.

[William Charles Macready, celebrated actor, friend of Charles Dickens.] Autograph Letter Signed ('W. C. Macready.') [to 'Hawtrey'], regarding Prince Albert, the education of the poor, and the recipient's brother's school.

Author: 
William Charles Macready [W. C. Macready], celebrated actor, friend of Charles Dickens [Hawtrey; Sherborne, Dorset ]
Publication details: 
Sherborne House [Dorset]. 31 May [no year, but before 1860].
£120.00

4pp., 16mo. Bifolium with mourning border, on paper embossed with the Macready crest. In fair condition, lightly aged, with torn hole to one corner of the first leaf (not affecting text), presumably caused by removal from mount. The recipient is clearly a member of the Hawtrey family (and presumably a relation of Edward Craven Hawtrey of Eton), as the letter concludes with the Macready family's best wishes 'to Mrs. Hawtrey'. It must date from before Macready's departure for Cheltenham in 1860.

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